Peanut Butter Blondies

My second peanut butter recipe in a week’s time, and yet it seems like it’s been so long! I guess that’s life when you’re a teensy bit of a peanut butter-holic. The good news is that if you share my peanut butter affliction, you’ll certainly be in peanut butter heaven as soon as you take one bite of these. Using a traditional blondie base, crunchy peanut butter is added, and then chopped peanuts, and then (we’re not done yet) – peanut butter chips. A great big mouthful of soft, chewy, peanut butter goodness in each and every bite. These are absolutely a peanut butter lover’s dream.

Like all blondie (and most brownie) recipes, one of the best things about this recipe is how quick and easy it is to make. You don’t need to haul out the big mixer, nor do you need any special equipment. Just two bowls, a whisk, a spatula, and you’re set!

If you’d like to break up all of peanut butter-y-ness with another flavor, feel free to throw in 1 cup of chocolate chips along with the peanut butter chips. I think any type of chocolate would be good – milk, semisweet or bittersweet. Customize to your liking!

Directions:

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well incorporated. Whisk in the peanut butter until combined. Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, add the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Add the peanut butter chips and peanuts and mix until evenly distributed.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool completely on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. Using the foil overhang, lift the blondies from the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I have to make these! Unbelievable! I have had only one blondie in my life, and it’s time to change that! I love the combo of peanut butter, pb chips and nuts! This little bar, should give you lots of energy!!! Oh, can’t wait to make it!!

Michelle, I’m curious to know if you have a brand preference in peanut butter? Do you go for or avoid natural blends? And if you use natural, do you use the truly natural that would require a stir before use?

I’m guilty of just buying what’s on sale, but as I’ve started trying to use better chocolate, I think I should also aim for better PB choices.

Hi Holly, Well, here goes… I grew up in a strictly JIF house and that’s all I really ate up until a couple of years ago. Since then I started experimenting with others and really wanted to move to natural peanut butter. This is where I am now… I love Smuckers (both creamy and chunky) natural for everyday/eating. I also found Peanut Butter & Co this summer (also natural) and LOVE their cinnamon raisin, as well as “bee’s knees” (peanut butter w/honey) as a sometimes treat. That being said, I never bake with natural peanut butter due to the excess oil that can sometimes collect. If you choose to bake with natural, just make sure that you use the no-stir kind that can be kept at room temperature (JIF and Skippy both sell these). For baking, I recently read that Cook’s Illustrated did a taste test of peanut butters and found Skippy to be their favorite. I bought a jar and really did like it, so now I use regular Skippy for baking. Sorry that was such a long answer to a seemingly simple question!

I wish we had peanut butter chips in England!!! Heck, I wish we had chocolate chips in England! Of all the blogs I read, yours always makes me most homesick for American things. And that’s a compliment 🙂

I’m thinking of halving the recipe (or better yet, making these in a larger pan) and top with a good brownie recipe, then bake. Super dee dooper delicous, I bet. You should try this as your next experiment. 😀

Michelle,
You love peanut butter? Well, I’ve been making Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars for 20 years. My family has always been “nuts” about them. My kids are grown up and married but my husband whines when I don’t make them. I got the recipe from Sunset Magazine. They are wonderful when you need something quick. Add a smoothy and what a great start to your day!

Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars? Sounds heavenly! 🙂 I am a pb fanatic & also only buy the natural, but most recipes call for the “other” stuff. I did a Google search for the brkfst bars that you mentioned, but came up empty 🙁 Would you mind sharing? :))

Seriously loving the thought of making these bars…Here in France we do not have peanut butter chips…so would omitting them make them more like the Peanut Butter Fingers/Bars they used to serve in the cafeteria when I was back in High School?…I loved those things…and, while your recipe looks superior to those…I wonder how leaving out the peanut butter chips would affect the end result?..

We were a “Jif” family ..I recall…because it seemed to have a more “roasted” taste and aroma! Perhaps with your conversion and Cook’s Illustrated’s nods…I should give Skippy a try!…Thank you for your relentless creativity ..I agree with a previous commentor that yours is the blog to turn to for homesick ex-pats with hankerings for quality american fare. Have a lovely weekend.

I made this tonight. Tasted good but it turned out more like a peanut butter cake than blondies — a bit dry and cakey and way fluffier and thicker than the ones in the pic. What did I do wrong? I followed the recipe exact except used margarine instead of butter.

Hi Delphina, Margarine has much different properties than butter, especially when it comes to baking. Margarine has a much lower fat content and a much higher water content, both can greatly affect the outcome of a recipe. I’d recommend using butter always unless a recipe specifically states to use margarine.

just tried half the recipe in an 8×8 pan (but left out the peanut butter chips & additional peanuts) and came out with the same result as delphina; while the blondies are easy to make and quite tasty, they’re much more cake-like and dry. perhaps i should’ve made the whole recipe instead of attempting to half it though…